... notes from The EDJE

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The IndyCar Texas 550 Queries Wisdom Of NASCAR's Oval Popularity

Helio Castroneves's 200+ mph turbo and Firestone Tires tire management wins the IZOD IndyCar Texas 550. Disney Animation's cartoon character, TURBO, as it was depicted on the DW12 aero-panel of Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves' Chevy-powered turbo-assisted engine Dallara race car at the 39th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The IndyCar Texas 550 Queries Wisdom Of NASCAR's Oval Popularity

The Texas 550 leaves one with a most disturbing revelation or question concerning the popularity of oval racing. Why do fans prefer the slow, methodical ... almost certain predictability of NASCAR oval draft-pack racing over the lowered down-force exhibition put on by the IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) on the 24-degree banking found at the Texas 550?

Andretti Autosport's #25 DW12 Dallara of Marco Andretti, pre-race co-leader in championship points attributed to consistent finishes with no wins. Image Credit: IndyCar Garage via Twitter

By any measure, the sophomore year Dallara DW12's combined with the experienced driving talent found in the IICS had the most educated and ardent fan guessing at the beginning of last Saturday night's race as to what factors would carry the day and deliver a most entertaining result.

ABC Sports Jamie Little catches up with IICS Championship points leaders Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti. Image Credit: Penske Racing via Twitter

Would there be yet another, different winner (first time, or not) to win a race in this 2013 season? There has been one repeat winner with James Hinchcliffe and in seven previous races run, five first-time race winners had been crowned ... counting the INDY 500 as a stand alone event - Hinchcliffe, Sato, Kanaan (INDY 500), Conway, and Pagenaud. The only other race winner was last year's IICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

The track located near Ft. Worth, Texas has held 24 IndyCar open wheel races before and in the last seven years there had been no driver to repeat a winning result. Last year, in fact, a known road/street course specialist in the form of British race car driver, Justin Wilson, driving for Dale Coyne racing received his second overall win in the series. Also, one can win from any qualifications position ... Wilson won last year from the 17th starting position. Further, this 1.5 mile track, is noted for the most close finishes registered (measured in .1000's) by any on the schedule.

Race Director, Beaux Barfield discusses pit-in and pit-out rules with the drivers before heading out to the track to race. Image Credit: Paddock Insider via Twitter

The 24-degree banking is a major factor in delivering the close quarters racing with a varied result because the 4-G down-force the speed and banking create has the cars set up with lower down-force which has the focus clearly placed on tire wear (for grip) and driver acumen in achieving the fine balance of speed versus longevity of GREEN Flag racing run. Longer runs and the maintenance of grip through the tire wear curve are rewarded here at Texas Motor Speedway.

Lastly, this has been an amazingly competitive season amongst the teams that where not perceived as power house teams. Outside of the very capable Andretti Autosport team, the other two perennial championship caliber teams, Penske Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR), had yet to achieve a win and had only three podium finishes through seven races (that's 3 out of a possible 21 podium finishes). Would these two teams continue to be locked out in winning?

Qualifications had Penske Racing's Will Power capture the pole with Helio Castroneves slotting in at P6 with TCGR's Dario Franchitti ahead at P4. Andretti Autosport had its three of its four drivers - Andretti P2, Hunter-Reay P3, Viso P5, and Hinchcliffe P13 - in the top five positions.

The race itself starts out in the late afternoon/dusk and ends under the lights at night after a total of 278 very fast over 200 mph, 1.5 mile laps (under 20 seconds). Weather was clear, spring-like and not a factor.

Penske Racing's Will Power leads the field off of pit lane having qualified for the pole position at a speed of 219.182 mph. “These days you have a one-in-24 chance because that is how many cars are starting and there are so many good teams and drivers," Power said. "To get a win here would be phenomenal. My wife is from here, all the family is coming out so if I don’t win here I’m probably not coming home for dinner.” The crowd in the stands behind seemed short of expectation. Image Credit: Paddock Insider via Twitter

The final 75 laps as reported from 140 or less characters as posted on Twitter - Tweet-By-Tweet -

Formula Ràpida @FormulaRapidaV
#indycar 75togo 1. Castroneves +10 sg 2.Power 3. Reay 4. Carpenter 5. Franchitti 6. Kanaan

heriberto briceño @toni5632
#indycar #Firestone550 #TEXAS 166 de 228 #lider: castroneves 2 power 3hunter-reay 4carpenter 5franchitti @EJVISO P9 entra sato

Ricardo Cardoso @ricardo_engsoft
Castroneves pit-in. Lap 175/228. #IndyCar #Firestone550

Kenny Shook @KennyShook
The difference that new tires are making in this Indy race is rediculous. #firestone550 #texasheat

Dakota Hunter  @ElKotaLoca1499
41 laps to go: 9 cars on the lead lap as pretty much the whole field has made their final pit stop. #IndyCar #Firestone550

@The EDJE
Helio, TK, Marco, RHR, Carpenter, Power, Jakes, Newgarden

Scott Tackett @ScottTackett24
Everyone wants a caution except for Helio Castroneves. He has a 15 second lead over 2nd place with 36 to go! #Firestone550 #IndyCar

Ash (アシュー) @racingAsh
When these tires fall off, they REALLY fall off. @h3lio @penskeracing doing a great job conserving his tires. #IndyCar #Firestone550 on @ABC

@The EDJE
203 - Helio Marco, RHR, Carpenter, Jakes Dario, only on lead lap

Eric Smith @Ericsportsguru
New Order 23 to go: Helio, RHR, Carpenter, Jakes, Dario, Power Only cars on Lead Lap #Firestone550

ForTheLoveofIndy @4TheLoveOfIndy
RHR almost a second quicker that time by. #IndyCar #Firestone550

@The EDJE
16 laps to go - RHR now 5.6 seconds

@The EDJE
198 mph vs 202 mph with Helio vs RHR

heriberto briceño @toni5632
#indycar #Firestone550 #TEXAS 12 para ir #lider: castroneves 2hunter-reay 3carpenter 4kannan 5franchitti @EJVISO P9

@The EDJE
TK, who just pitted for new tires, is out on a terror at 208 mph and a full straight difference

@The EDJE
Podium if ends now with 7 laps - Helio, RHR, Carpenter, ... TK just passes to grab P3

@The EDJE
5 laps to go - 201 vs 198 - Helio vs RHR

@The EDJE
Helio has opened up the throttle and leads by 5.4 sec with 2 laps to go

Erik @WeAreBullied
FINAL LAP WOOOOO #INDYCAR

@The EDJE
Penske and Helio wins the G-Force challenge at Ft. Worth - 22 point lead in IICS Championship

Mark Panichelli @markpanichelli
Congrats @h3lio , wow ! class of the field tonight ! First 4-time winner of #Texas #IndyCar race

So it's Helio, RHR, TK, Carpenter, Marco, Dario, Power, Newgarden, Hinch, and Viso are the top 10

Eric Smith @Ericsportsguru
#Firestone550 finishing order: 3,1,11,20,25,10,12,67,27,5,14,16,77,6,19,78,83,55,4,7,15,98,9,18

BuckeyeGDO @buckeyegdo
“@nascarcasm: Typically, climbing a fence in the state of Texas isn't something that's met with fanfare. #IndyCar”

Randy Bernard @RBINDYCAR
Cont. @eddiegossage #indycar prime time race on #ABC prior to me leaving. Please tell the truth when you do interviews

Tony Olufson @Tolufson
Agreed! “@tonydizinno: After all the angst over pack races in the past, enjoyed the differentiation tonight and the safe race #IndyCar”
ENDS

Gotta' love the winner's prize - a cowboy hat and a couple of pearl handled six-shooters handed off to Helio under the flames of a podium that had his name in lights! Image Credit: John Cote via IndyCar.com

Last year we got to see a 6'3" Brit, Justin Wilson, pop off a couple of rounds, this year Brazilian Helio Castroneves put a little boot-scootn' into climbing the fence and shooting the six-irons. He looks almost too good in a cowboy hat.

At the end of the race, again this question pops up, why do fans prefer the slow, methodical ... almost certain predictability of NASCAR oval draft-pack racing over the lowered down-force exhibition put on by the IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) on the 24-degree banking found at the Texas 550?

Answers ... anyone?

... notes from The EDJE

Featured Article >>>

**Article first seen as The IndyCar Texas 550 Queries Wisdom Of NASCAR's Oval Popularity at Motorsports Unplugged**

TAGS: NASCAR, KV Racing Technology, Texas Motor Speedway, Tony Kanaan, Andretti Autosport, Texas 550,Will Power, Penske Racing, Ryan Hunter Reay, IZOD IndyCar Series, Motorsport, The EDJE

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 1 Results >>> @TheEDJE – Dale Coyne Racing nets a P1 Conway and a P3 Wilson for a double podium finish after waiting 25 years for first win. Top 10 – 1 Conway, 2 RHR, 3 Wilson, 4 Dixon, 5 Castroneves, 6 Franchitti, 7 Newgarden, 8 Power, 9 Rahal, 10 Jakes!!! Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves by finishing 5th captures the season points through six of nineteen races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

The IZOD IndyCar Series experimented with a format of holding two street/road course races at the same venue over the same weekend and by most anyone's standards, the weekend was a great success.

This was be the first time IndyCar had tried this format for this type of racing (not an oval) and going in, people wondered if the physical demands of driver and track could hold up to the pressure and rigors of two 70 lap races in two days ... after all, the drivers were not just turning the car to the left all the time and last year, parts of the track surface came apart with about 25% of the race still to be run.

Another concern was the potential of the typical spring pop-up shower but the weather only became a bit of a factor during the first qualifying session on Friday - the rest of the weekend was fine.

In hosting the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheader in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans, there are several new features to the street circuit for the race weekend **Extended the circuit to create more overtaking opportunities. A half-mile straightaway between Turns 2 and 3 has been added **More than 100,000 square feet of road surface has been refurbished **Curbing at Turns 3 and 4 has been reworked or removed to create tighter turns and, consequently, more overtaking opportunities. Image Credit: IICS

The first race was an exciting affair that featured passing due to the new, longer and wider configuration and very few YELLOW Flag cautions. The race was won by a first time winner from a smaller team that has two British drivers for street/road course races - Mike Conway driving for Dale Coyne Racing's Sonny's Bar-B-Que sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12.

Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne's full-season driver of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12 had won the only other races for the team with two wins (one street/road course and one oval) came in at P3 giving the team a first-time double podium.

Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Justin bends over to congratulate Mike Conway on his first ever IZOD IndyCar Series win in Race 1. Image Credit: IICS

Before the Dual in Detroit Race 1 was run, in the morning's warm-up and Race 2 qualifications session, Mike Conway had already secured the Pole position for Race 2 so there was a lot of anticipation for Conway to become a double race winner for this first Dual in Detroit and take home a $50,000 prize in doing so.

Winning sportcar and Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports driver, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud became the second first-time IZOD IndyCar Series race winner in as many days. Pagenaud started from row 3 in P6 ... six positions better than he finished Race 1 on Saturday at P12. He's the sixth different winner -- from six different countries -- in seven races and the fourth first-time winner this season (Hinchcliffe, Sato, Conway, and Pagenaud). Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via FB

The following New Media entries are a combination of Tweets from Twitter and comments from the author in observance to the events that transpired during the Dual in Detroit Race 2 … welcome to the 7th race of this 19 race IZOD IndyCar Series 2013 season -

@IndyCar
DRIVERS, START YOUR ENGINES! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - LAP 1 of 70 in the Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 begins

@stephanie_b_89
"@INDYCARPR: FULL COURSE YELLOW: Car No. 2 makes contact with the wall. #DetroitGP #IndyCar" @AJDinger : (

@Joshua_Rogers
Dinger wads up another car. Perhaps he needs to stick with vehicles with fenders. #IndyCar #DetriotGP

@DawnsKiss
@12WillPower Leader #IndyCar #Dual2 #Detroit under caution

@estradawriting
Power apparently got past Conway before the yellow light. Willy P your new leader. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@DannieAsphall
"@INDYCARPR: Back to green on Lap 4. @Mikeconway26 took the lead entering Turn 1 on Lap 5. #DetroitGP #IndyCar"

@HalfShaftBlues
#IndyCar powerhouses Mike Conway & Dale Coyne Racing continue their dominance, while plucky upstarts like Penske & Ganassi keep hope alive.

@ComingToTheFlag
Simona in the wall. Full course caution. #indycar

@MattEmbury
oh and Simona de Silvestro's dead in the water turn 9. Crash. #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 10 of 70 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-RHR 5-Jakes 6-Dixon 7-Viso 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Castroneves

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 13

@ScottManifold
Reds should last longer today with more rubber down. #indycar

@MattEmbury
@IAIndyFan Several as I predicted before the race, interesting though that Power and Pagenaud stayed out on reds. #indycar #detroitgp

@WoodsiesGarage
Josef Newgarden slows on the backstretch as the track goes yellow again. Most of this race has been run under caution. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@AutoweekRacing
Cation out again for crash involving @tagliani. Sheesh. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@jopijedd
I think it is time for the traditional "Ed Carpenter struggling with the fact that this circuit has corners in BOTH directions"... #indycar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 15

@BaronVonClutch
.@EJVISO has damage after contact with @h3lio's car. #IndyCar

@TomcatNASCAR
16 laps of #IndyCar is already more exciting than 375 laps of #NASCAR.

@Pablomg228
Difference between Indy and F1: Indy drivers have the guts to try to pass in places like this #detroitgp #indycar

@BoBarkfield
Detroit...crash city! #indycar #DetroitGP

@MattEmbury
Oh and Hunter Reay has a busted suspension, wall contact likely #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 20 of 70 Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-Dixon 5-Jakes 6-Kimball 7-Castroneves 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Franchitti

@tonydizinno
Yellow again, wiping out an 8.8 second lead for @Mikeconway26, aka the Stig, aka Conweezy. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

No one is riding on REDS after a round of pitstops on 4th caution - for debris

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Kimball 4-Wilson 5-Franchitti 6-Kanaan 7-Vautier 8-Sato 9-Bourdais & 10-Saavedra Top 4 have not pitted

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 23

@CarlsonsRaiders
Meanwhile, they're back to green once again in Detroit! #Indycar #DetroitGP

Vautier touches Sato and sends TAKU in the wall

@FormulaThoughts
Takuma no! :( #SuperSato #Indycar

With all of the YELLOW Flags - 5 now - three fuel strategies seem to playing out

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Franchitti 4-Kanaan 5-Vautier 6-Power 7-Pagenaud 8-Bourdais 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Andretti - Top 2 yet to pit

@RLenziBlade
It's official: At the 26th lap, half of the #DetroitGP has been run under caution. #IndyCar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 27

YELLOW Flag - Power gets punted from behind, Wilson, Carpenter, Viso, Tagliani, and Briscoe all involved - Sebastien Bourdais is the culprit on the punt that collected

everyone - Hinchcliffe busts a wing on the way through

@CarlsonsRaiders
Will Power clearly pissed at Bourdais, decides to just throw his gloves rather than the double birds this time. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@npssandy
@indycaradvocate At least it wasn't the track falling apart this year... #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Riiiight ... it's just the drivers that are falling apart

LAP 30 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Dixon 3-Vautier 4-Franchitti 5-Bourdais 6-Conway 7-Pagenaud 8-Andretti 9-Jakes & 10-Kimball

@jimlefko
Crazy amount of crashes/cautions at #indycar race at Belle Isle. Infinitely more entertaining though than seeing MConway drive solo in front

@elmondohummus
You know, this race really DOES represent Detroit: No matter what efforts you bring, it all goes downhill. #indycar

@FilipCleeren
Restart order: 11 55 10 7 25 83 9 18 77 67 4 6 1 16 3 20 #detroitgp #indycar

Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Vautier 3-Franchitti 4-Bourdais 5-Andretti 6-Kimball 7-Dixon 8-Conway 9-Pagenaud & 10-Rahal

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 37

Conway is just carving up the field and he making it look easy - passes three cars left-right-left

@neilhudson
Conway already up to fourth, will be third when Bourdais serves his penalty if he even waits that long #IndyCar

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Vautier to the lead. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 40 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Vautier 2-Conway 3-Kanaan 4-Kimball 5-Dixon 6-Franchitti 7-Pagenaud 8-Saavedra 9-Jakes & 10-Andretti

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier pits, giving Conway the lead again. >1s lead over Kanaan. Kimball P3, 2.6s behind Conway. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 42 - Conway already is 2.7 seconds in the lead over Kanaan - WOW!

@racer_27
First Hinch and Will Power is back too! All hail #IndyCar mechanics. #DetriotGP

@spunk72
Man, @Mikeconway26 is driving this race LIKE A BOSS. #Indycar #detroitgp

@Deke15
That replay of Conway passing the Ganassis looked like he DROPPED THE HAMMER and the others were standing still. #IndyCar

Kanaan pits and comes back out in 12th

@4TheLoveOfIndy
This is Ganassi's best shot at a win so far in 2013. Currently occupies 2-3-4. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@drewallennews
Charlie Kimball gaining on Conway #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@racewithinsulin
No. 83 current lap time: 80.2126 for P2. Conway P1 at 82.4594. #DetroitGP #IndyCar -PLR

First time in two races and Conway gets passed ... Kimball in the lead

@mfriedman_63
Really, almost anyone can win these Indycar street races. Except the expected favorites! #DetroitGP #Indycar

@drewallennews
Pagenaud gets around Conway. Those tires are done. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway in the pits - back on Blacks! - Conway out at P6

LAP 50 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Andretti 4-Franchitti 5-Conway 6-Rahal 7-Kimball 8-Dixon 9-Kanaan & 10-Saavedra

@kenspi
This--> “@curtcavin: Great tweet from @BourdaisOnTrack "Seb avoids all the mess." Uh, he helped cause the mess. #IndyCar”

@MADMAUtwotwo
3-wide racing on the streets of Detroit!!!!! @IndyCar #indycar

@miller_j18
once they've figured out how to not hit each other, this is getting good! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway up to P4 - Pagenaud and Jakes will need to pit for sure

The race is between Franchitti and Conway - first four cars are Honda-powered

@carbonconcepts
Why no Conway in-car? #indycar #detroitgp

Pagenaud in and out and ahead of the Franchitti Conway battle

@IndyCar
Great battle between Conway and Franchitti for 3rd. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@INDYCARPR
Of note: these are the first laps led on road/street course for @JamesJakes. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@michaelw2000
Anyone notice that Power is getting closer to Bourdais?!?! LOL!!! I sense a "Duel" coming! About 4 sec difference! #DetroitGP #IndyCar

Conway passes Franchitti on LAP 57 - 28 seconds behind Pagenaud - Jakes in and comes out in P2 ahead of Conway

LAP 60 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Franchitti 5-Dixon 6-Andretti 7-Kimball 8-Rahal 9-Kanaan & 10-Castroneves

There is racing all through the top 10

@drewallennews
Pagenaud is one of those drivers who has constantly been knocking on the door. Does he get his first win today? #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Kanaan pits from ninth. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@OfficialGinaN
Top two have never won #IndyCar race... Makes it more exciting! #DetroitGP

@99forever
In the top 3, Pagenaud and Jakes both just set fastest laps of the race. Jakes's was faster. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

The top 3 cars are all in sight of each other - what a grand street course race ... real ChampCar racing is back bigtime!

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier spears the wall during another ad break, now stalled. Bourdais also went off but is still going. Local yellow. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@julesia18
ABC is picking the WORST times to go to commercial!!!! #indycar

LAP 65 of 70 - Top 5 are 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Dixon 5-Franchitti and the field is stable unless something happens

@CarlsonsRaiders
Pagenaud is the fastest guy on track right now, doesn't look like Jakes or Conway have anything for him. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@indycaradvocate
Jakes trying to hold on to P2. Big day for Pags and Jakes both. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@Jose_Galvan
The lethargic ABC @IndyCar announcers are describing an exciting race as though it were a medical procedure. Come on! #indycar

@IndyCar
. @simonpagenaud out up front with just a couple laps to go! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway closes on Jakes at 2 LAPS to go

@TheoTradeMark
Two laps to go. Conway trying to battle Jakes for the 2nd #DetroitGP #Indycar

WHITE Flag

@therossbynum
At this point the circus clowns just tumble out of the clown car. Exhausted. Clown union preparing strike as we speak. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Race 2 Podium drivers congratulate each other during the cool down lap at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Image Credit: Nicolas Dura via Twitter

@mfriedman_63
A podium of Schmidt/Peterson, RLL, and Coyne??!! Are you kidding??!! :) #Indycar #DetroitGP

@scottaltimaman
Oui Oui! Pagenaud wins! #IndyCar

Schmidt Hamilton Racing’s Simon Pagenaud, driving the Hewlett Packard sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12, wins his first IZOD IndyCar Series race in 39 starts. Image Credit S. Pagenaud – iOS photo

@CrashGladys
BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD! 6 winners in 7 races, from 6 different countries. It doesn't get any better than THAT, race fans! Epic

@AutoweekRacing
Pagenaud wins #DetroitGP ahead of Jakes and Conway, but Conway was the undisputed star of this race and the weekend. #IndyCar

@BaronVonClutch
.@simonpagenaud Wins Race Two at the @detroitgp! Pagenaud also banked the fastest lap of the race. #IndyCar

First win for proven ALMS sportscar series winner Simon Pagenaud.

@ScottManifold
What a wacky year! Someone predicted that right? Nice job podium! Pagenaud, Jakes, Conway #indycar #detroitgp

Honda-power captures the top 5 positions with more horsepower than Chevy-power ... in DETROIT!!!

Overnight television ratings for ABC's live telecast of the second race of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit on June 2 grew 14 percent over last year's Sunday telecast, which also aired on ABC.

The network earned a 0.8 overnight rating, up from a 0.7 overnight for last year's race at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The June 1 race, which was new this year, earned a 0.7 overnight rating on ABC.

... notes from The EDJE

**Article first published as Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati**

Monday, June 3, 2013

IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing

E.J. Viso was second (1:19.5572) in the No. 5 Team Venezuela/PDVSA/CITGO car for Andretti Autosport to tie his best qualifying effort in Brazil in May. Joining him on the front row will be Mike Conway, driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car in the two races this weekend. Conway has qualified for the Firestone Fast Six in both of his events this season.. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing

The IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS), after holding one of the most exciting and flawless INDY 500′s in its record-breaking 97th edition, move into Detroit’s Belle Isle for back-to-back temporary street course races where the points race can be shuffled.

The “Dual” double entendre for two races (one on Saturday, one on Sunday) and a (duel) street fight for championship points will be shown on general broadcast television … a rarity in this modern cable/satellite broadcast feed age. Any modern digital television, or a CRT television with a digital signal converter box can dial up the general broadcast signal for the local ABC Network station and watch Dual in Detroit – American open-wheel racing, with pitstops for fuel and tire changes for changing weather conditions, YELLOW Flag cautions, and push-to-pass at its absolute best.

For the two races in Belle Isle, P2P will allow the driver to utilize Detroit give a power boost for 10 total engagements that last 15 seconds per push for a total of 150 seconds of “up-time” during the running of each race.

To quote from an article published by IICS -

Push-to-pass, which was introduced to the new engine-chassis package last July on the streets of Toronto, will have parameters for each of the road/street course events, including doubleheader races at Detroit, Toronto and Houston. The option gives drivers a turbocharger boost from 21.7 Psi to 23.2 Psi and additional 200 RPM with the push of a button located on the steering wheel.

There’s no delay in activation or refresh time.

“If the driver chooses to use one, they can’t cancel it. It’s use it or lose it,” INDYCAR vice president of technology Will Phillips said. “That in itself makes it more difficult to choose to use as a defense mechanism rather than as an overtaking opportunity. You’ll have to be careful because there are only 10 opportunities to use it during a race. The length of each push of the button should cover the longest straight, if that’s where they choose to use it, of each circuit.”
(Reference Here)

The “Firestone Fast Six” (FF6) three round format of qualifications became a little dodgy due to weather and a major miscue by Helio Castroneves when he spun off-track and could not get his Chevy-powered Dallara DW12 into reverse which brought out a RED Flag that effectively ended the Round #2 group of twelve transfer effort. This allowed @RyanHunterReay @dariofranchitti @Mikeconway26 @tagliani @EJVISO @JamesJakes to advance to the FF6 leaving behind Rookie Tristan Vautier, P2 in the IICS points – Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Penske’s Will Power – who is having a terrible year, Sebastian Saavedra, and Helio Castroneves.

Dario posted the fastest time in the FF6 receiving the points – the money – and the sticker, but due to an earlier engine change at the INDY 500, had to give the P1 position to start the race to the second fastest qualifier E.J. Viso, No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA CITGO Chevrolet … his first P1 start in American open wheel racing.

“Very excited,” said the ChampCar ex-patriot. “It will be my first pole start in IndyCar. I’ve been on pole in other car races, but being on pole in IndyCar is definitely one of my targets… my aims that I wanted to accomplish. And little by little, working with this group, things are starting to come together. I am very proud of all this hard work that we have been doing as a team, as a crew. I am very excited about this year.”

About being at the front for a street race:

“It is good. I think it has given me some good chances to stay in the front and be sure I’m going to have a competitive car. We have proven that so far. And I’m really looking forward to it.”

Race 2 qualifications in the FF6 three round format are set for 9:15 a.m. June 1: Round 1 – all cars will participate in one of two groups for 12 minutes each, with five minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. Group 1 will consist of even-numbered positions on the practice time sheet, while odd-numbered positions will comprise Group 2. Round 2 – the top fastest 6 cars from each of the 2 groups in Round 1 transfer for a 12 car qualification session where the Firestone Fast Six are taken from the fastest six cars. Round 3 – the “Firestone Fast Six” compete for the top six positions (first three rows, side-by-side) to start the race.

Four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais marks his 100th Indy car start this weekend at Detroit, which was acknowledged by the IndyCar Series Friday morning <

Weekend broadcast schedule as communicated by the IZOD IndyCar Series -

ABC will televise both IZOD IndyCar Series races at Belle Isle — the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans — at 3:30 p.m. (ET) June 1 and 2.

Chief announcer Marty Reid will be joined in the broadcast booth by Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. The network also has coverage of the Firestone 550 on June 8 at Texas Motor Speedway — its first prime time IZOD IndyCar Series race broadcast.

TV broadcast: ABC (3:30 p.m. ET June 1 and 2)
… Chief announcer: Marty Reid

Radio broadcast: IMS Radio Network affiliates, Sirius and XM 211, American Forces Network, INDYCAR 13 app, indycar.com
… Chief announcer: Mike King

Timing & Scoring: INDYCAR 13 app, Race Control on indycar.com

Twitter: @IndyCar (#indycar), @detroitgp (#DetroitGP)

Track layout: 2.346-mile, 13-turn street circuit … Race 1 and 2 length: 70/164.22 miles

Verizon P1 Award winner: Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car

Championship points: Full points for both races, including bonus points for earn the pole (one for Race 1) and quickest qualifying lap (one for Race 2)

Start: Rolling … Restarts: Double file

Losing positions: The entries for Franchitti, Charlie Kimball, Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal will incur 10-grid spot penalties for the first race at Belle Isle because of unapproved engine changes at Indianapolis.
(Reference Here)

The Dual in Detroit weekend is more than just racing because having two points-paying races in one weekend, broadcasted on free general broadcast television is a welcomed modern day rarity – one that should be repeated many more times in order to re-kindle the interest in the most competitive top level automotive speed competition that exists in the world today. It’s all about access!

Weekend UPDATES:

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 1 Winner – Dale Coyne Racing’s Mike Conway driving the Sonny's BBQ No. 18 Dallara-Honda DW12.

Mike Conway at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as he sits in his Rahal Leterman Lanigan prepared Dallara DW12. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dual in Detroit Race 1 post race Tweets:

@TheEDJE
Dale Coyne Racing nets a P1 Conway and a P3 Wilson for a double podium finish after waiting 25 years for first win #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@joselomacias
RT @indycaraldiaweb: #IndyCar Carrera 1 (Detroit): 1Conway 2RHR 3Wilson 4Dixon 5Castroneves 6Franchitti 7Newgarden 8Power 9Rahal 10Jakes

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves by finishing 5th captures the season points through six of nineteen races!

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 2 Winner – Schmidt Hamilton Racing’s Simon Pagenaud driving the Hewlett-Packard No. 77 Dallara-Honda DW12.

After multiple cautions that jumbled the running order and ruined the weekend for many drivers on Belle Isle. After multiple pit stop and tire strategies seeking to gain an advantage on the 2.346-mile, 13-turn street circuit. After multiple battles and high drama, let alone tempers, stood Simon Pagenaud in Victory Circle. The French driver was as exhausted as the push-to-pass operations available in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car over the 70-lap race but smiling broadly after earning his first (1st) IZOD IndyCar Series victory. Caption Credit: Dave Lewandowski | Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Dual in Detroit Race 2 post race Tweets:

@therossbynum
At this point the circus clowns just tumble out of the clown car. Exhausted. Clown union preparing strike as we speak. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@mfriedman_63
A podium of Schmidt/Peterson, RLL, and Coyne??!! Are you kidding??!!

#Indycar #DetroitGP

@scottaltimaman
Oui Oui! Pagenaud wins! #IndyCar

@CrashGladys
BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD! 6 winners in 7 races, from 6 different countries. It doesn’t get any better than THAT, race fans! Epic

@AutoweekRacing
Pagenaud wins #DetroitGP ahead of Jakes and Conway, but Conway was the undisputed star of this race and the weekend. #IndyCar

@BaronVonClutch
.@simonpagenaud Wins Race Two at the @detroitgp! Pagenaud also banked the fastest lap of the race. #IndyCar

@TheEDJE
First win for proven sportscar series winner Simon Pagenaud.

@ScottManifold
What a wacky year! Someone predicted that right? Nice job podium! Pagenaud, Jakes, Conway #indycar #detroitgp

@TheEDJE
Honda-power captures the top 5 positions with more horsepower than Chevy-power … in DETROIT!!!

… notes from The EDJE

**Article first seen as "IndyCar’s Dual In Detroit On ABC Is More Than Just Racing" at Motorsports Unplugged**

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

For a decade, Kanaan was IndyCar’s reigning Best-Never, as in “best never to have won the Indy 500.” Sure, he’d won the championship in 2004, but make no mistake: in IndyCar, it’s all about the race that gives the series its very name. More than the Daytona 500 to NASCAR drivers, more than The Masters to golfers, more than Wimbledon to tennis players: This is the race that defines drivers; any second-place challenger isn’t even on the same lap. Caption Credit: Jay Busbee | Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win

It is understood that we humans are saps for happy endings – and for those who had invested their emotions in the 97th Indianapolis 500 race over the weekend, the payoff was anything but anticlimactic, even with the race ending under a full course YELLOW Flag caution.

Most of the easy money was on any one of five Andretti Autosport drivers taking the Borg-Warner Trophy inscription/sculpture prize and the lifetime of notoriety that comes with being “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” winner. In the final tally, Andretti Autosport had Columbian rookie Carlos Munoz riding P2 (voted Indy 500 Rookie of the Year), 2012 IZOD IndyCar Sreies Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay – P3, and the current 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Marco Andretti rolling along under the YELLOW Flag at P4.

The easy money did not win but the emotional money paid off big time … if the emotional money were on a deserving previous non-winner of the event, driving for a team that had never won either the INDY 500 or a series championship – 38 year old Brazilian Tony “TK” Kanaan.

TK even had an additional emotional story about luck that presented itself just days before the race.

The Handford Device was created as a way to slow the cars down and try and improve overtaking. The strip or plate was placed on the tailing edge of the rear wing and aided in reducing downforce, increasing drag, and generating a larger wake for the drivers of cars behind to use for a slipstream. Image Credit: f1technical.net

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports -

Kanaan: Oval racing about “playing the game” given power levels
Tony DiZinno May 27, 2013, 2:30 PM EDT

A veteran of open-wheel’s top level since 1998, Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan is well-versed on the various “styles” of racing that have occurred in ovals in either CART, IRL or IndyCar iterations.

The second year of IndyCar’s new Dallara DW12 chassis at Indianapolis once again featured a plethora of passing thanks to the “slingshot” effect created by a tow. The cars punch such a big hole in the air that drivers catch up to each other fairly easily. Passing was as prevalent on Sunday as crushed beer cans in Indy’s new “Snake pit,” Turn 3.

But for Kanaan, who raced in the CART-era “Hanford device” period, the racing now isn’t as random or affected by the aero slingshots as it was then. The device, created by aerodynamicist Mark Hanford, was used in CART from 1998 through 2002 on high-speed ovals at Michigan and California Speedways.

“I’ve driven all types of IndyCars, I would say,” Kanaan said Monday at IMS. “I drove the Champ Cars with the thousand horsepower, a lot of downforce. Then we went to the Hanford device, which was worse than this as far as drafting. This car has a little bit less.”

The Dallara DW12’s powerplants have only 550 horsepower for ovals. What that has done is altered the racing, but away from the scary “pack racing” that plagued the IRL era, and made it about positioning compared to the CART days when cars could come from nearly a second back to pass [at will] someone in one straightaway.

Kanaan would know, given his first major open-wheel win was a 500-mile CART race at Michigan in 1999, and he barely held off Juan Montoya after the Colombian hauled him in thanks to a monster tow.

“My most fun years were the years that we had the big horsepower cars and you just had to go flat out; it was pure racing speed,” Kanaan admitted. “You had the faster car, you’re going to take off and win this thing because you had a chance to lap the field.

“That’s not going to happen nowadays. Now you play the game we played yesterday. You feel it out, what kind of car you have during the race, and you position yourself to win.”

Greater horsepower is a near universal desire of the field of drivers, but for now, Kanaan and others are playing with the resources at their disposal.

“So I would rather have more horsepower and do that. But nowadays with the cost, it’s quite impossible for that to happen.”
[Reference Here]

TK drove the Hydroxycut KV Racing Technology-SH Racing (KVRT) prepared Chevrolet-powered second-year Dallara DW12 co-owned by Jimmy Vasser, Kevin Kalkhoven and Imran Safiulla.

KV Racing Technology team leader/co-owner Jimmy Vasser knows what it is to be a race car driver w/o INDY 500 recognition. He now has it as a team owner and joins a very exclusive group of drivers who turned to being a team owner to have this kind of success. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

“I never won this race as a driver and couldn’t seem to do so, so I had to hire a driver to do it,” said on-track team owner Jimmy Vasser in a post race interview. “Tony is the consummate professional and he’s been a long time coming here. Starting a year ago, we decided to focus on Indy by taking a chassis and putting it aside. A lot of credit goes to the boys, who have worked very hard over the winter. Tony was right, ‘the stars started lining up for us,’ and we didn’t really get a race set-up until last Sunday [one week before the race] with two hours to go and within 45 minutes, we hit on it. We knew we had the right guy and the right set-up for the race.”

While the race ended under a full course YELLOW Flag caution, everyone invested in the event were treated to a highly competitive, record-setting run for the first 197 laps.

Tony Kanaan celebrates with winners milk in front of team owner Jimmy Vasser (clinched-fists, arms raised) after winning the Indianapolis 500. The American Dairy Association released a milk preference poll for all 33 drivers in this year’s race. Sixteen of them are opting for 2 percent, eight are going for whole, four of them chose skim milk, and five couldn’t care less … so long as they get to drink it. TK signed up for a quart of 2 percent! Image Credit: IndyCar.com

Some numbers of note following the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, including the top three positions at 20-lap intervals (ht: IndyCar.com):

Lap 20 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.0077 of a second), Ed Carpenter (-.3487)
Lap 40 — Ed Carpenter (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay
Lap 60 — Ryan Hunter-Reay (under caution), Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter
Lap 80 — Will Power, Tony Kanaan (-.3984), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.6241)
Lap 100 — AJ Allmendinger, Tony Kanaan (-.0473), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.4544)
Lap 120 — Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti (-.1399), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.3720)
Lap 140 — AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.1390), Marco Andretti (-.3408)
Lap 160 — Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti (-.1167), AJ Allmendinger (-.4829)
Lap 180 — Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay (-.2866), Helio Castroneves (-.9251)
Lap 200 –Tony Kanaan (under caution), Carlos Munoz, Ryan Hunter-Reay

68 — Race-record lead changes, breaking 34 in 2012.

14 — Race-record different lap leaders — a third of the field — breaking 12 in 1993.

27 — Race-record cars running at the finish, breaking 26 in 1911.

133 — Consecutive green flag laps (from Lap 61 through Lap 193), the longest green flag period in Indianapolis 500 history since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976.

21 — Caution flag laps, the fewest in an Indianapolis 500 that went the full distance since caution flag laps were recorded beginning in 1976. The 1976 race also had just 21 caution-flag laps, but that race ended after 102 laps because if rain.

187.433 — Average speed in miles per hour, a race record. Arie Luyendyk held the record of 185.981 mph since 1990. It was only the fourth time the race record has been broken.

13 — Positions gained by Simon Pagenaud, who finished P8 from P21, the most in the field.

6 — Drivers who led their first laps in the Indianapolis 500.

9 — Indy 500s led by Tony Kanaan in his 12 starts.

62 — Temperature in Fahrenheit at the green flag, tying the 1930 race for the third-coldest in the race’s history.

226.940 — Fastest overall lap in miles per hour by Justin Wilson (the highest placing Honda-powered DW12 at P5) on Lap 185.

223.651 — Fastest lap in miles per hour by a race leader, Carlos Munoz, on Lap 184.

168 — 2013 series championship points for Marco Andretti after five races. Takuma Sato is 11 points behind.

226.176 — Field qualifying average in miles per hour. It’s the fourth-fastest field in Indianapolis 500 history, exceeded only in 1995, 1996 and 2002. The 2002 field averaged 228.648 mph, the fastest in history.

228.762 — Four-lap average speed by pole winner Ed Carpenter, the fastest since 2006 by Sam Hornish Jr.

Favorite post race Tweet:

E.M.H @elmondohummus
Yes This! No gimmicks in Indycar. RT @TonyJWriter: Oh, and hey, screw green-white-checker finishes. #Indy500orBust #IndyCar #dw12

Longtime American open-wheel writer, SpeedTV’s Marshall Pruett Predicted: He’s come close before and has, in my estimation, another legitimate shot at winning this year. The most popular driver in the field without his likeness on the BorgWarner trophy will likely put on more displays of bravery and miraculous passes—but can his team get his No. 11 car just right for the sprint to the finish? That’s the only thing I see holding TK back from Victory Lane.

Well, they did, Marshall!

Results – 200 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap

1. Tony Kanaan          KVRT/Chevy
2. Carlos Munoz         Andretti/Chevy     + 0.1159
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy     + 0.2480
4. Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy     + 0.3634
5. Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda        + 0.8138

6. Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy       + 3.0086
7. AJ Allmendinger      Penske/Chevy       + 4.0107
8. Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda      + 4.2609
9. Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda      + 5.6864
10. Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy    + 6.8425

11. Oriol Servia         Panther DRR/Chevy + 7.8633
12. Ryan Briscoe         Ganassi/Honda      + 8.9216
13. Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda         + 10.2602
14. Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda      + 11.3858

15. Ana Beatriz Coyne/Honda + 12.2657

16. Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda      + 15.3045
17. Simona De Silvestro KVRT/Chevy           + 15.7201
18. EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy     + 17.8056
19. Will Power           Penske/Chevy       + 22.5403

20. James Jakes Rahal/Honda + 1 lap

21. James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy     + 1 lap
22. Conor Daly           Foyt/Honda         + 2 laps
23. Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda      + 3 laps*
24. Alex Tagliani        Herta/Honda        + 4 laps
25. Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda        + 7 laps*

26. Katherine Legge      Schmidt/Honda      + 7 laps
27. Townsend Bell        Panther/Chevy      + 8 laps
28. Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda       + 9 laps

* Not running at finish

Retirements

Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy       178 laps
Pippa Mann           Coyne/Honda        46 laps
Buddy Lazier         Lazier/Chevy       44 laps
Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy       34 laps
JR Hildebrand        Panther/Chevy      3 laps
(ht: autosport.com)

As Tony was overheard to say during the ceremony at race’s end, “This is it … man, I made it. Finally they’re going to put my ugly face on this [Borg-Warner] trophy.” This inscription and facial sculpture will become a well earned award for a lifetime of achievements.

… notes from The EDJE

**Article first posted as "Tony Kanaan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Through 97th INDY 500 Win" at Motorsports Unplugged**

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

A joyous Michael Andretti as he basks in the glow of being the team owner of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay while fielding questions from the press just after the last race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

The month of May, 2013, at the famed two and a half mile rectangle/oval located at Speedway, Indiana has been dominated by cars prepared and driven by Andretti Autosport. During the week leading up to Pole Day, which took place last weekend, saw all five cars comfortably posting speed times in the top 10 with the consistency usually reserved by Penske Racing or Target Chip Ganassi (who, under their direct banner, have fielded five cars combined).

On Pole Day, Andretti Autosport cars made it to the “Fast Nine” shootout for the pole … the only other multiple car team to place all of its cars in the final cut was Penske Racing (P5. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8264 (228.099) | P6. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8342 (228.087) | P8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.0596 (227.762)) leaving Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TGR) locked out – TGR’s Dixon and Franchitti are P16 and P17 respectively (row six).

The Andretti Autosport DW12′s qualified at P2. (26) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.6581 (228.342) | P3. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7139 (228.261) | P4. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7907 (228.150) | P7. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.9614 (227.904) | P9. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.5411 (227.070).

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay just moments after he pits his #1 DHL sponsored Dallara-Chevy at the end of the race that rewarded him with enough points to secure the 2012 IICS driver championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

If qualifying position and overall team performance were the solid gold predictors in the outcome of a race run, then one would have to give the inside track to ANY Andretti Autosport team car and driver.

When one adds the calculation of team performance to the winning of races, Andretti Autosport is also given the edge starting the last half of 2012 – when Ryan Hunter-Reay won Race #8 of a 15 race season at the Milwaukee Mile, Race #9 Iowa, and Race #14 through the streets of Baltimore and eventually seizing the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) Driver Championship – then continuing the performance during the first four races of the 2013 season with James Hinchcliffe winning Race #1 at St. Petersburg and #4 at Sao Paulo, not to forget the win by last year’s IICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in Race #2 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama – the team is on a roll.

James Hinchcliffe prays in the cockpit of his Andretti Autosport Go Daddy sponsored Dallara-Chevy before taking to the track. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Lastly, through four races of the 2013 season, the consistency of performance can not be ignored. The driver championship standings with over 20% of the season being run has Andretti Autosport season regular drivers Marco Andretti standing at P2, James Hinchcliffe at P4, Ryan Hunter-Reay at P6, and EJ Viso at P11. And, again, the pinch-hitter for the INDY 500, Carlos Munoz sits as the top qualifying driver for the team at P2 – WOW!

A shootout in the INDY 500 by Andretti Autosport drivers is a very real possibility because the team, and the way the second season DW12 cars have been prepared, would allow this to happen.

Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe take to the ‘Brickyard’ for set-ups. Marco sets a speed of 225 on the first day of practice laps leading all cars that ran on the first day of May practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from SB Nation -

2013 Indianapolis 500: Power ranking the field of 33
By MattWeaver on May 21 2013, 10:00p

Instead of compiling a traditional power rankings list like we normally do on Tuesday afternoons at SB Nation IndyCar, this week’s post will rank the top-10 drivers most likely to win the Indianapolis 500-mile Race.

Drivers can typically be lumped into three groups entering the month of May:

1.) The top-10 drivers that have the easiest path towards winning the Borg-Warner Trophy.

2.) The group of 10 that will need some help or a little bit of luck.

3.) The final 13 that are best described as a long shot.

Conceivably any of the 33 drivers have a shot after 500-miles, as fuel strategy has generated some surprise winners over the last century. That’s one of the many reasons the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is still the greatest race in the world – it’s still the 500-mile sweepstakes.

And yet, there is still a clear hierarchy led by traditional powers Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Our top-10 picks to win the 2013 Indianapolis 500 can be found below, with an explanation for each of the top contenders. For reference’s sake, we’ve also included a complete ranking to the last driver.

1. Marco Andretti
The entire month of May seemingly has been dedicated to Andretti Autosport, the Andretti Curse and Marco Andretti’s career resurgence. While just a little off the pole speed on Saturday, the number 25 team appears fastest in traffic, picking up a toe [TOW] and several other deciding factors in traffic.
—-
He’s also number 1 on the power rankings list because he’s shown the most consistent speed at Indianapolis since teams unloaded the DW12 oval model last May, leading the most laps of the 2012 race and dominating the practice sessions leading up to the 2013 race.

2. Ed Carpenter
One of the biggest misconceptions about the buildup to this year’s Indianapolis 500 is that Ed Carpenter is some sort of heartwarming underdog victory after capturing the pole on Saturday afternoon. Sure, Ed Carpenter Racing doesn’t have the same budget as Penske or Ganassi, but he is the most prolific oval racer of the post-split era.

3. Carlos Muñoz
With reservation, a 21-year-old rookie makes the podium in the most-likely to win the Indianapolis 500 power rankings post.
—-
Only Marco Andretti has shown quicker pace in practice, and Muñoz has looked confident running in a pack with his Andretti Autosport teammates. He’s looking to do what JR Hildebrand couldn’t do in 2011, and that is winning this race in just his very first attempt — so don’t be surprised if it actually happens.

4. Hélio Castroneves
If youthful disregard could win on Sunday for Muñoz, experience and patience will do it for Hélio Castroneves. There is more than one way to win this race, and it will be interesting to see how Castroneves approaches another attempt to win his fourth Borg-Warner.

5. Dario Franchitti
Repeat everything that was said about Hélio Castroneves in regards to Dario Franchitti. The only thing placing Castroneves over Franchitti is his Chevy turbocharger which appears much-stronger at Indianapolis. Dario is also looking for his fourth win at the Speedway.

6. Will Power
Based on his championship finishes over the past three seasons, Will Power has inherited the title of Team Penske’s number 1 driver. With that title comes a lot of responsibility at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but not a lot of success thus far.
—-
Will Power can absolutely win this race. And in a season where he has somehow gone winless through four-consecutive road and street course events, wouldn’t a victory in the Indianapolis 500 just make sense?

7. James Hinchcliffe
The Go Daddy Andretti driver has been sneaky competitive at Indianapolis, qualifying 13th for Newman/Haas in 2011 and finishing sixth in last year’s race. Brimming with the confidence off two wins to start the 2013 season and the powerful Andretti Autosport backing his entry in 2013, Hinchcliffe could finally and completely break out of her shadow with a win in the Indianapolis 500.

8. EJ Viso
Andretti Autosport has seemingly concentrated the raw potential of EJ Viso, and that could again show itself with a surprise victory in the Indianapolis 500.

9. AJ Allmendinger
Casual observers were quick to point out that AJ Allmendinger’s lack of results in his first two races back in Indy car was a sign of his inability to drive these cars after six seasons or the result of his mixed commitments to both IndyCar and NASCAR.
—-
Like any Penske car, the No. 2 has speed the driver has shown the ability to wield it for brief practice or qualifying spurts, but can he do it for 500 miles? That’s the only question separating AJ Allmendinger from the Borg-Warner trophy.

10. Scott Dixon
In a repeat of last season, Honda and Target Chip Ganassi Racing look to be just off the pace set by their Chevrolet rivals. But like last season, Honda and Ganassi will rise to the occasion and will be a constant threat for the lead in the late stages of the race.

The Borg-Warner Trophy – this image never gets old. Image Credit: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Lost in the shuffle between the legendary Dario Franchitti/Takuma Sato duel last year was that Scott Dixon was leading the Indianapolis 500 up until three laps to go. That isn’t likely to change on Sunday.

11. Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. Tony Kanaan
13. Takuma Sato
14. JR Hildebrand
15. Ryan Briscoe

16. Alex Tagliani
17. Charlie Kimball
18. Graham Rahal
19. Justin Wilson
20. Oriol Servia

21. Townsend Bell
22. Simon Pagenaud
23. Simona de Silvestro
24. Josef Newgarden
25. Sebastien Bourdais

26. James Jakes
27. Sebastian Saavedra
28. Conor Daly
29. Tristan Vautier
30. Pippa Mann

31. Buddy Lazier
32. Ana Beatriz
33. Katherine Legge
(Reference Here)

Predictions are a funny thing because when the race is run, the story always takes on an edge that can never be calculated for. This is why we race, and watch American open wheel races – F1 has nothing like this.

Broadcast Information:

The Memorial Day weekend tradition returns with the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, beginning at 12pm ET from famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABC airs the race for the 49th straight year, beginning with a one-hour preview show Sunday at 11am ET. The production will use 84 cameras, including three on-board cameras each on 12 of the 33 cars. Viewers can also choose a live streaming video feed from the on-board cameras on ESPN3. Marty Reid calls the race with analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. Lindsay Czarniak hosts, with Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch reporting from pit row.

… notes from The EDJE

** Article originally posted as "Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?" at Motorsports Unplugged**